What the Wind Brings
by SpiritPrincess101
Summary: "No matter where we are, or how far apart we are," she whispered, "wherever the wind blows, I'll be with you, by your side." And oh, how he wished she were with him. Hyoutei character fic! CONTINUATION! CH2: "A King's Worth" PLEASE READ AND REVIEW!
1. Wherever He Goes

He looked up at the sky, staring at the puffy, white clouds as they glided across the deep canvas of blue.

_She would have loved the weather today_... he thought with the slightest smile, his expression laced with nostalgia and a small tint of sorrow.

He lie down on the grass, crossing his arms behind his head and continuing to gaze at the clouds, noticing one white puff taking shape close to that of a tennis racket. Chuckling, he closed his eyes, opening them again at hearing a sweet voice pipe next to him, _"Hey, did you see that?"_

His head whipped over to look to his side, shooting up in surprise, eyes wide. There she sat, arms hugging her knees to her chest, hair fluttering while looking up in earnest at the clouds.

Rubbing his eyes, he looked again, only to slump in disappointment. She was gone.

_Just my imagination_, he sighed.

He pressed his palms into his eyes, half-sighing, half-laughing at himself. Settling down onto his back again, he began identifying the clouds and counting them, as she would have done. Though they weren't sheep, slowly but surely, his eyes began to close as the sun's warm rays lulled him to memory lane.

_"Hey..."_

_"Nn...?" he grumbled sleepily, twitching open an eye to look at his companion. _

_"Do you think we'll ever get married?" she asked. _

_"Hah?" he jumped up at her question, partly shocked and partly pleasantly surprised. _

_"W-wah?" she jumped too, startled at his reaction. _

_He looked at her. With a straight face, though his eyes were clearly twinkling, "...Is that a proposal?" he asked slyly._

_She blushed furiously, slapping him lightly on the shoulder while laughing. _

_He chuckled along with her, before lying down again, this time snuggling closer to her. She did not move away, simply choosing to pet his head tenderly as she wordlessly watched with a serene smile-the clouds, the occasional jogger, the flowers moving in the breeze._

_Looking up at her, he sighed lightly, knowing that she had been serious. "Honestly, I don't know," was all he could say. _

_"I...see..." he saw her smile falter for the shortest moment, but he caught it anyways. Sighing again, he reached up to hold the hand petting his hair._

_"I'm s-" he began to apologize, but she shook her head. "It's fine," she assured him._

_"It'll be okay," he said instead. "They'll allow us to. It'll be okay," he repeated out loud. _

_But it wasn't for her to hear...it was for himself. And both of them knew that, all too well. _

_They lapsed into silence again, unsure of what to say-how to start-where to go-where they would be forced to go._

_"Hey," she said again, poking her male companion lightly. _

_"Yeah?" _

_"..." She stared at him for the longest time, intensely gazing into his eyes...when suddenly, she burrowed her head into her knees. _

_He stared at her in bewilderment, until he heard a whisper. Quiet as it was, it was clearly enunciated. "I love you," she murmured from her fetal-position sitting style. _

_This time, he actually got up and sat next to her, wrapping his arms around her shoulders. And this time, she tilted her head up to look at him, eyes inches away, lips even closer. _

_"And you know that, right?" _

_"I know," he said, gripping her shoulders firmly while taking care not to hurt her. "I know." He pressed his forehead to hers. _

_She rubbed her nose to his, pressing a quick kiss to his lips._

_He held her tighter, desperate to keep her in his grasp. Why? Why did it feel like she was saying goodbye? _Stay. _he thought_, Stay with me.

_"No matter where we are, or how far apart we are," she whispered. "Wherever the wind blows, I'll be with you, by your side."_

_"Wherever the wind blows..." he repeated. _

_She nodded, confirming her promise, her vow to him. A single tear ran down his cheek as he pressed his face into her hair. _Then let the wind follow me wherever I go,_ he prayed silently. _Forever...

He felt a finger poking him harshly on the shoulder. "Urgh..." he grunted, unwilling to get up from his comfortable position on the grass.

"Oi, wake up! As much as I know the sun feels good, we've got a match to make!"

"I _know_ that," he grumbled, pushing himself off the ground and lightly brushing his clothes off. "Who do you think you're talking to?"

He turned back to the boy, who was peering up at him with a surprised expression. Slightly disconcerted, he asked, "What, Shishido?"

"Hey...you okay?"

"What are you talking about? I'm always okay," he scoffed. When Shishido pointed to his face, he touched his cheek, surprised by the warm wetness on it.

"...Today was her birthday, wasn't it?" Oshitari came up from behind, patting his back comfortingly.

"Yeah...it's been two months, already, huh..." Shishido quickly caught on.

"I wonder how she's doing..." he looked up at the clouds again, willing them to tell him their secrets. He was almost tempted to yell, Hey Cloud #2 over there, I'm sure you've seen her. How is she? Where is she? Who is she with right now?

"We don't know," Oshitari said with a sympathetic shrug, "but I know that wherever she is, she's doing well. You can feel it, too, can't you?"

"Yeah," he smiled. "I can."

What went unsaid stayed unsaid because it was clear to all of them-no one thought it was necessary to say it out loud. That, w_herever she is, she loves you still_.

"Come on, let's go." Shishido pretended to shudder. "So cheesy. I'm not getting held up in a sunset scene with two guys, no way." Stomping off a few feet, he turned around and gestured to the other two boys. "You two, get a move on, or I'm taking Singles 1 and Chotarou's taking Singles 2!"

"All right, old lady," Oshitari yelled back. "Yeesh!"

He jogged a few steps to catch up to Shishido, moving ahead of the last boy, who turned to the clouds and sky for the last time before beginning to walk towards his companions.

As he stepped towards a new spring in life, he thought he felt the wind pick up. Was it his imagination this time? Or was it really true? It was like the wind was her messenger, whispering into his ears.

**_"Thank you." _**

**_"I love you..._**

**Keigo."**

* * *

A/N: This just bounced into my head today! Not sure if it's good or not, but PLEASE PLEASE _**REVIEW**_! It means SOOOO much to me!


	2. A King's Worth, and a King's Work

Thank you to those who reviewed my last chapter! Plus it's my first Hyotei fic, so I'm super super happy! XD ^^

Special thanks to reviewers **Neon Genesis**, "**fdas**," **Silver-Cat20**, a "**Guest**," **sakura0luver**, and **HG59**! I love you guys sooo much!

Also, recognition to all my followers/favoriters: **HG59**, **jenshim1518**, **pikapikacutieally**, **Waisk**, **Bluemoon. shadow** and **xx-ENZERU**!

I'm glad that you guys liked the first chapter (and those who didn't, please tell me whyyyyy in a review!) and just saying, I seriously appreciate all feedback (and yes, flames too) in all forms. Not to mention-I don't bite, so please PM me if you have an account. XD

So...to answer to all the calls for a continuation... **drum roll** HERE IS CHAPTER 2! XD hope it meets your guys' expectations! The first chapter was more of a memory scene rather than a plot one, so the mystery girl isn't going to appear for a while, I don't think. Sorry~~

In any case, please enjoy the second chapter of What the Wind Brings!

* * *

As soon as he arrived back home, Atobe didn't even think about going up 3 flights of stairs up to his room. Instead, he promptly plopped (in a dignified manner, nonetheless) down on the luxurious 15-foot long sofa in the living room, and flung his arm over his eyes to block out the world from his mind.

Immediately, his butler Michael stepped up to the head of sofa, watching the young heir. Just silently, he stood there without making a single motion or attempt to converse. Several of the female servants instinctively opened their mouths to ask their master if he needed anything, but Michael shot them a sharp look that sufficiently halted any verbal expressions of worry.

So. They stood there, and waited.

And waited.

And waited.

Until Michael sighed and finally waved the servants away. "Return to your duties," he mouthed to them, emphasizing his words with a slight shooing motion. They scuttled off, still a little worried, and _very_ confused by Atobe's unusual display of fatigue.

As soon as they had left, Atobe brought his arm down and murmured softly. Quickly leaning in, Michael asked respectfully, "Pardon, young master?"

"Thank you," Atobe repeated tiredly. "You always seem to know what I need, don't you?" he added with a slight quirk to his lips, as if he found the whole situation completely ironic.

"Well, I can't say that 10 years of serving young master has gone to waste, now, can I?" the butler replied, playing along with the imaginary inside joke. "I will get a cool drink prepared right this moment. Please stay here and rest well."

"Aa." Atobe didn't know what else to say. He was absolutely exhausted.

It wasn't that their opposing team today had been any good. At least for him, of _course_, the opponents were completely inferior and not worth a second thought. He was the King of the Court, after all. He owned the place, regardless of whether it was at their own home courts or not.

But that _dream_...or rather, that memory. Atobe's brow furrowed. Why today, of all days, did that particular scene have to rewind and replay in his mind? He had been trying so hard, so desperately hard, to shove everything from before into the back of his mind. No, he didn't-_couldn't_ completely forget. But consciously avoid the topic, he did, scrambling to save his sanity by not thinking about it.

Because if he didn't try at least that much to forget the time that they had spent together...he'd go near hysterical for real.

* * *

The dull sound of a hand knocking on a wooden door woke Atobe up. A quick look around made him realize that someone had brought him up to his room. _Michael_... Atobe thought with a small smile. Gratitude wasn't something he showed every day, but it was hard to be condescending with a man who had followed him for 10 years, acting as a second father figure.

The knocking person on the other side of the door spoke quietly, her lovely lilting voice breaking into his thoughts. "Keigo? Are you feeling unwell?"

Atobe sat upright, fluffing some wrinkled pillows absentmindedly while replying, "No, I'm doing perfectly fine, Mother."

A short silence followed, before his mother sighed. "All right then. Your father and I just came home, so feel free to call and we'll come up from our room. Michael is still awake, as well, if you need any of us."

"Yes." Curt, but not rude..._yet_.

"And...Keigo?" Despite not seeing or hearing anything signaling such, Atobe could imagine his mother biting her lip, wavering, on the other side.

"Yes, Mother?" He was honestly beginning to tire of this conversation. As he almost physically willed his conscience to stay awake, his emotions began to pile up. The irritation was building, a bubbling molten lava lying under Volcano Atobe about to blow.

Another short period of hesitation, before she let out a stream of words almost unintelligible due to them being completely mashed together. "Youhaveamarriageinterviewsoon-"

"Sorry, _what_?" He asked. He was pretty sure he had heard correctly, but wanted to reconfirm before he became no longer able to keep the simmering rage under control. For now, volcano Atobe was to stay dormant... for _now_.

Atobe Reiko took a deep breath. Shakily, she repeated, "You have a marriage interview soon. With the heir of the Shirosaki Corporation." Strike 1.

"You _do_ realize what you are saying, Mother?"

"Keigo, listen to me, please-" Strike 2.

"Why must I listen to you? You _know_ what day today is, yet you _still_ come to me with this stupid-"

"We're doing it for your own good, Kei-" Strike 3.

Three strikes, player's out, and the volcano finally blew its top.

"For my own _good_?" Atobe bellowed at the door. "What would you know about my own good? If you were really thinking for me, you wouldn't be taking away the things most precious from me!

First torturing half of my friends, then forcing the business on me, then taking away the first and LAST person I'll ever truly love!" he spat, putting sharp emphasis on "LAST."

By the time he finished, he was breathing hard, his chest heaving with the effort he had put into his enraged rant.

Oh _God_, how much he wanted to throw one of these damned pillows at the door. He didn't, but oh, how he wanted to. To make her realize how much he hated, _hated_ what she had done to him, to her, to _them_. _  
_

"Keigo."

At hearing that horrid, horridly familiar voice, Atobe's hands clenched into tight fists around his poor pillows. No...to make _them_ realize what they had done.

"Father." Atobe stiffly acknowledged.

"What do you think you're doing, throwing a childish fit like this?" the elder male boomed, taking over the conversation. Atobe could not help but flinch; the disapproval in his father's tone was almost palpable.

"I am not being childish." Atobe deadpanned. "You and Mother know better than to throw another marriage interview at me _now_, of all times. You cannot possibly have forgotten-"

"No, we haven't. But it's high time that we start."

_That_ made Atobe bristle like a cat in front of six thousand oncoming bloodhounds. Springing up from bed and storming over, he whipped the door open at an abnormally fast speed. Glaring at his father, who just coolly looked right back at him, Atobe said mockingly, "'It's high time' that you learn that I am a normal human being."

He threw his father's words back at him, but Atobe Masakuni was still not the least bit fazed.

"You are our son," he said simply. _And you know what you must bear._

Hearing that, Atobe became even more irritated. He knew that was a fact, that with his birth came many responsibilities. But seeing this man, this brute, his _father_, act as if everything could be done like robots programmed with certain instructions-it just infuriated him to the core.

"I may be your son," Atobe said evenly. But his eyes narrowed, and Reiko tensed from behind her husband, knowing something was very wrong.

"But I'm not a cold monster, because I'm not _you_." And with that, he slammed the door in his parents' face, locking it for extra emphasis.

And in the few seconds the door took to close shut, Atobe gleefully reveled in the glimpse of his father's face that he got-a mixture of fury, appall, and shock-that temporarily appeased the anger inside of himself.

Yet, just when he expected his father to fly into a rage after the door closed, he was instead met with an eerie silence.

From outside his room, Atobe heard his father sigh. "Go meet the Shirosaki heir. You'll see why we chose her for you."

Atobe heard his parents take a few steps away from the door, when Masakuni called again, "You _know_ why we do this, Keigo. _You're_ the heir of the Atobe Corporation and all of the companies under it, so..."

His voice trailed off there, three unspoken words hanging in the air as the couple left him alone finally, going down the stairs to their own room.

"So_..." Act like it. _

Atobe indulged his childish self just this once more, and allowed himself to chuck a pillow at the door with all his strength.

* * *

"So, you're going?" the voice on the other line asked incredulously.

"What else can I do?" Atobe replied, rubbing a hand over his face, frustration clearly written all over.

He had asked around to see what type of person she was, just to have some mental preparation beforehand, and he had been more than slightly disappointed with the unrelenting _praise_ he had heard about her. Beautiful, kind, passionate-people had practically sprayed showers of compliments about her deeds when he had asked them.

Lord, it would have been so much easier if she had been a complete waste of his time.

Oshitari, who had been silent for a while, mumbled something. Atobe narrowed his eyes. "Speak up, Oshitari. Don't mumble like some old commoner woman."

"I said," his friend repeated louder, "I don't have such a good feeling about this."

"Neither do I." Atobe replied. "I feel like I'm going to puke with outrage at this arrangement."

"Touche," Oshitari said with a smile in his voice. "Just remember to be polite. Your parents _will_ hear about this."

"Like I need you to tell me that." Atobe rolled his eyes. "I'll call you later."

"Talk to you later, then." And with that, Oshitari hung up, only the ominous sound of the dial tone remaining in his ears.

Atobe growled. The argument-conversation from a week still rang through his mind like it was yesterday. As angry as he was, that had reminded him much too clearly for his own comfort that he _was_ the heir. He had control over much, but equal responsibility to take care of everything and everyone that was _under_ his control.

Taking a last look in the mirror, he picked up his coat and went downstairs. Unfortunately, if seeing this "Shirosaki" woman was going to be part of that responsibility, he was just going to have to suck it up like a man and do this thing. (After all, real kings didn't whine.)

_Well_, he thought, as he sat in the back of the car and raked a hand through his hair again, it's not like he really cared. Whether she was devastatingly beautiful or had unparalleled intelligence, he was going to say no. Tactfully, but still... _no_.

* * *

A/N: Hope that was an okay continuation? PLEASE REVIEW AND GIVE FEEDBACK! I'D LOVE TO HEAR FROM ALL OF MY READERS! ALL! (especially those sneaky, lovely people who followed but did not review hint hint wink wink nudge nudge XD)

Love and bear hugs! -hime-chan


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